Bakugou is basically saying that Izuku is not allowed to lose. he can’t. he has All Might helping him, dammit, and he’s not allowed to lose when the strongest person in the world is helping him.
but it also means Bakugou is holding Izuku up to his own personal expectations, now. Bakugou isn’t allowed to lose. after that first exam, he vowed to never lose again. but now he’s holding Izuku up to those standards–Izuku is not allowed to lose, not even against him.
he’s starting to hold Izuku up to is own exceptions of what a hero should be. of what All Might was. someone who never loses.
in his own way here, Bakugou is encouraging Izuku. he’s giving him his support, in a backhanded way. and Izuku understands that. he knows that losing to Bakugou hurt Bakugou more than it hurt him.
because Izuku… he’s got All Might’s support. he’s got all of All Might’s powers. and yet… he lost to Bakugou. All Might is weak now, he can’t fight anymore–but Izuku can. and Bakugou won’t tolerate Izuku losing.
Izuku has to start winning now. to do otherwise… maybe to Bakugou, it would bring shame to what All Might represents to him; an unstoppable hero. he can’t have that.
Izuku has to get stronger and live up to that legacy that he’s carrying now.
and what’s sad is that Bakugou still feels weak. he just beat Izuku, and he still feels weak. he still feels responsible for what happened.
it could be that he’s putting all these hopes and expectations on Izuku because he’s starting to feel like he’s not worthy of being number one anymore. he’s starting to lose some faith in himself.
hopefully future events will happen that’ll restore his self confidence, because this kid sorely needs it.
anyway i’m just gonna cry now b/c i love my son so much
Greetings! The name is Time Lizzy, or Time as my friends call me. They/Them pronouns. I love to try new things, draw, sing, dance, garden, and I do some witchcraft in my free time. I'm a Hetalia role playing partner if you guys are interested.
View all posts by Time Lizzy Saint
